Afghanistan: British Aid Worker Killed for ‘Preaching Christianity’

October 20th, 2008 By: Michael van der Galien | Tags:

A British aid worker in Afghanistan was killed over the weekend by the Taliban because, the extremist group said, she was “preaching Christianity.”

Gayle Williams was working in Afghanistan for three years. She first did her job in the Kandahar province, but went to the capital of Kabul due to safety issues.

She was killed in a drive-by hit.

“We killed her because she was working for an organisation which was preaching Christianity,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

Serve Afghanistan is a British charity, which focuses on education and helping people with disabilities.

The mission statement on its website said its goal is to “express God’s love and bring hope by serving the people of Afghanistan, especially the needy, as they seek to address personal, social and environmental needs.”

Taliban have stepped up their attacks against all those they consider either not pure enough, or adherents to other faiths in recent months. It is, clearly, a sign of things to come if the Taliban would eventually succeed in coming back to the government or even overthrowing the democratically elected government of President Hamid Karzai.

British newspaper the Daily Telegraph made a video about the assassination of Williams and the increasing violence against aid workers in Afghanistan. Watch it here.

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  1. David
    October 20th, 2008 at 21:40
    Reply | Quote | #1

    The Taliban seem to love killing unarmed women. Brave guys….

  2. Tess
    October 21st, 2008 at 00:24
    Reply | Quote | #2

    These stories always leave me feeling a bit torn. Obviously, an aid worker should NOT be gunned down in cold blood. Period.  But, over the years I’ve heard that some aid workers won’t help or feed people UNTIL they been preached to. I don’t care for that way of doing things. If you want to go to a foreign country and help the starving and disabled, that’s a wonderful thing, no question about it. But I’m curious, is it illegal for foreigners like Gayle Williams to preach Christianity to the Afghans while helping them in other ways?
    Just wondering…
    ps. May all aid workers and volunteers in every walk of life be protected in their works.

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